Dixie Grayson: Years with the bat
by YAY13
Summary: Dixie Grayson grew up in the circus with her older brother, Dick Grayson. Then they were orphaned. Then Dick was shot. Then Dixie was alone. She ends up on the doorstep of a famous manor and in the care of a famous millionaire, Bruce Wayne. Now Dixie Grayson lives the life her brother would lead, except as a girl. Probably will involve the Teen Titans but the original ones.


Just trying out this story. I enjoy writing it as it's the only way I could find that Dick could be a girl without completely changing everything or just making Dick a girl. I wanted him to be in it for a bit at least. Anyway, this is just a trial so, if you don't like it, tell me and it will be discontinued. If you like it then please tell me as well because I like getting told that people like my work!

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Normal POV

"But mum!" Richard Grayson moaned.

He gave a small cough as his mother told him to get out of his gymnastic clothes. His mother gave him a concerned looked as he moaned. He only had a cold but she didn't want him to sneeze when he was performing and cause an accident or do himself serious injury.

"I need someone to look after Dixie, baby bird."

Although Dick was ten he was fine with the term 'baby bird' being used by his mother. It was sweet, a little pet name. Dick found himself looking at his little sister. She was sitting on the sofa next to him wrapped up in a warm jacket. She had his favourite yellow blanket resting on her shoulders. She was two years younger than him, eight. She had been ill first and Dick was sure that he had caught it off her. He didn't mind that he had caught the illness from her. He had enjoyed playing tag with her the day before and was sure he had got sick then. She looked exhausted from the illness as well but she was recovering quickly. Dixie had long black hair like their mother and her blue eyes came from her father. Dick also had the same features but his hair was uncontrollable, naturally spiky, flying off at different angles. Overall, both the children looked very similar.

"But I want to do the show!" Dick concluded.

Dixie looked at him with pleading eyes. If Dick didn't look after her then she would be left with one of the stall owners and the people of Gotham weren't the nicest to small children if they were sitting near stalls.

"You two can watch the show from the stands. I'll give you money for snacks. Just try not to get into trouble." Mary Grayson said.

Dick smiled weakly and nodded slowly. Mary smiled back at her son and leant forwards, she place a kiss on his forehead and then ruffled his black hair.

"That's my little robin."

"Come on, Mary." John Grayson called. "The show starts in ten minutes."

He appeared in the doorway and hugged Dick, telling his little man to look after his sister. John hugged Dixie quickly and then told his wife that he would be waiting outside. Mary turned to Dixie. She knelt down and stared into the blue eyes of her slightly sick daughter. She took her hands and held them in hers. The mothers hands were warm and Dixie felt warmer the moment her mother touched her. Her mother stroked her cheek.

"Be good." she said.

She kissed her little girl's forehead and then disappeared outside.

John was waiting outside for his wife. She looked at him with worry in her green eyes as she walked towards the circus tent.

"I don't think it's safe to let them leave the caravan. This is Gotham you know. They have that bat thing in the skies at night."

"Dick's a bright lad. He'll never let anything happen to Dixie." John said. "If you're so worried we could pull out of the show."

"No, it's just..." Mary paused. "I don't want to come back and find them not there any more."

Dick and Dixie sat in the stands. They were surrounded by all the junk food that the circus provided and Dick was attempting to throw bits of popcorn into his little sister's mouth. It was first time Dixie hadn't done a show since she was five and it was leaving the little girl feeling a bit nervous. Dick tried to calm her down but something felt wrong. He didn't know what but the whole thing felt off.

Bruce's POV

It wasn't the first time Alfred had forced me into leaving the house but it was the first time he had forced me to go to a circus. I went alone so I could run off and become Batman as soon as the circus finished. I found an empty seat next to two young children. It was near the ring but not too close that I would get noticed by any reports who had turned up to review the circus or take photos. The oldest of the two children was a boy with spiky black hair. He was probably about ten. He was laughing with a girl, who was a couple of years younger than him. She was most likely his sister.

"Is this seat free?" I ask, wondering if their parents were meant to be sitting there.

It wasn't safe to leave two children alone in Gotham. Anyone could come in and see the two of them sitting there. I wondered if I should be on the look out for possible kidnappers and leave the children alone as bait. It seemed cruel but Alfred couldn't protest to me stopping a kidnapping. The girl faked zipping her lips and smiled. The boy paused, looked at me and then his sister and pointed out,

"We're not meant to talk to strangers."

"I was just wondering if your parents will be coming to take these seats." I replied.

"Not very likely." the boy said with a smile at his little sister.

"Why not?"

"Because they're up there." the girl replied. "The last name's Grayson, work it out."

I realised that they clearly weren't from Gotham. The Flying Graysons were worth a small fortune in the entertainment industry. There were constantly in the entertainment magazines. If I was a criminal I could have grabbed both kids then and there and got a small fortune just for their last name alone. I glanced back to check that no known criminals were in the area. I couldn't see any. The two men behind the two of the children were waiting for the Flying Graysons, staring up at the wires and explaining to each other how they worked. I turned back to the children and recalled from the magazines the names of the children section of the trapeze quartet.

"So you must be Dixie and Richard Grayson." I pointed out.

"Yeah," the boy said. "But I prefer to be called Dick."

"Because he's a Dickie bird." Dixie said. "Aren't you, little robin?"

Dick blushed at his pet-name but I thought it was sweet. Dixie took a handful of popcorn and handed it to me with a polite smile. I turned back to the ring and watched as clowns fell about.

"That's Patty." Dixie said, pointing at one of the clowns. "He's allergic to custard, one of the only clowns who is. If he gets pied in the face he gets a real red nose."

Dick pulled his little sister in for a hug and ended up stealing from the popcorn as he did. At first I thought it was unfair until Dixie's small hands returned filled with sweets form the packet to Dick's side. Suddenly the lights around the circus dimmed and everyone looked up. Dick smiled at Dixie; they clearly knew what was going to happen.

"Introducing the Flying Graysons!" the ringmaster shouted from the centre of the ring.

The two adults appeared above the audience. They were in brightly coloured gymnast costumes. The full body costumes had green legs and red tops. Both of the adults were smiling, especially down at their two children who waved back at them.

"As you can see, the two young Graysons are ill and we wish them a full and speedy recovery."

I noted that the children neither seemed ill, nor did the ringmaster seem concerned. A bit of popcorn hit the ringmaster on the head and I turned to see that Dixie had thrown it. I stopped her from throwing another bit. The routine began with both of the gymnasts swinging out into the ring. They flipped and spun and threw each other about. It looked like they were flying. Beside me the child were murmuring their way through the routine, correcting each other and stating each move. Then John grabbed onto the middle trapeze. He noticed in horror that the wire holding him up was breaking. He stopped performing and looked and his wife.

"No! Mary! No!" he shouted.

Mary didn't react in time and John was forced to catch her. He hope that the ropes wouldn't break and prepared to throw his wife to a more sturdy trapeze. He didn't have the chance. The wires snapped. A scream echoed through the tent. I turned to the children and threw my hands over their eyes, stopping them from seeing it. Dick broke free first. He ran forwards and leapt into the ring. I uncovered Dixie's eyes so I could run after him and stop him. That was when Dixie saw the bodies. I caught Dick and held him back from the bodies, remembering what it had done to me. Dick had already seen enough. His parents were dead. Dick began to cry and I turned back, looking for Dixie. My heart skipped a beat. Dixie was gone.

Dick had realised about his sister and snapped out of his mourning. He had raced out of the tent, calling her name. I watched him, deciding that I should really become Batman. Dick seemed to know his way round the tents and kept shouting for Dixie. People were running into the circus tent and trying to deal with the deaths. I just hoped that Dick would be safe if I crept away.

Normal POV

Dixie didn't like the men who had grabbed her. Dick had run off into the ring to try and help their parents and, as the man who had been sitting next to them had gone after him, the men sitting behind them had grabbed her arms, pulled her over her seat and forced her out of the tent. They were talking about how the Grayson job has gone well but also said that the boss wouldn't be pleased that the boy was still alive and free. To Dixie it meant that her parents were dead and her brother was in trouble. The men had a gun digging into Dixie's back and had ordered her to be quiet. She wasn't sure what to do so was keeping quiet for the moment. Then two men walked out from behind a caravan and smiled at them.

"I see you've got one of them. Where is the boy?"

"He ran off after the Graysons died. We would have gone after him but this other guy got to him first. No one knows the girl is gone though, boss."

"Good. Let's get going before they can tear themselves away from the dead bodies of their star attraction."

The boss looked Dixie in the eyes and turned her face so she was looking straight at him. He didn't really need to crouch. He was fat and short. He was dressed in a smart suit but that was bulging.

"You're going to come with uncle Zucco, aren't you sweetie? You're going to come with uncle Zucco and make him a whole lot of money." the boss, Zucco, said.

His fat hands grabbed Dixie by the wrist and he attempted to pull her after him. When the eight year old stood her grown, he had his men manhandle her forwards.

"You killed my parents!" Dixie shouted at him.

"How very observant." Zucco said.

He turned to the man who had been with him and one of the men who had grabbed Dixie. He instructed them to look for the boy.

"I'm right here, Zucco!" Dick shouted as he leapt out of hiding.

He flew through the air towards the man holding his little sister and hit him in the jaw. He told Dixie to run but the eight year old stood her ground and joined in the fight. While Dick punched Zucco in the stomach, Dixie delivered a remarkably high kick to the jaw of one of the men. The children were both small but they were fast and youthful. They could fight for a lot longer than the men. They were also fitter and stronger than most kids their age. It looked like they would win the fight until Dick took a blow that knocked him to the floor. Dixie moved to his side and attempted to help him up but left herself open. One of the men grabbed her from behind and pointed a gun at her head.

"Let's dispose of them now." one of the men sneered, pulling Dick to his feet and pointing a gun a him.

"No, they're worth millions. They are just as good as their parents and are the only two people on the planet who can perform the same routine they did." Zucco said. "Get them in the van.

Bruce's POV

I could hear noises. It sounded like shouting. I ran off to find the kids. I began to look for the children, following the shouting noise. I rounded a caravan and saw Dick and Dixie being herded along by a group of criminals. It didn't take me long to realise that these people must have killed the Graysons. I recognised the man as Boss Zucco. I moved forwards as Batman, letting my cape cast a shadow over the group. The two children began to struggle. Dick got free first and ran to help his little sister. I began to battle the men as Dixie got free and hugged Dick.

"He killed mummy and daddy." Dixie murmured.

Dick nodded and then Zucco grabbed him. I stared at him as he pointed a gun at the boy. Dixie gasped and looked pleadingly at me. Zucco was going to kill the boy. My hand caught around a bat-a-rang and I pulled it out, ready to throw. Dick moved first. He struggled quickly and punched his way free. Zucco had no chance to react as Dick ran to his sister yet again. Zucco stared at them.

"You will pay for that boy!" he shouted, the gun pointed at the two children.

He fired at Dixie. I attempted to move in the way but didn't have the time. At first I though that Dixie would have been shot. She wasn't. Dick appeared in the way and glanced down at his chest. His blue eyes were terrified as he realised that he had taken the bullet for his little sister. I looked at Dick as he fell to the floor. Dixie looked down and gasped. She was about to run to her brother's side. Zucco was getting ready to fire again. I grabbed her and scooped her up. I thought about bringing the boy but it was clear he wasn't getting up any time soon. Dixie began to cry as I raced away with her.

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